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It is well recognized that reperfusion causes tissue damage in excess of that produced by ischemia alone. The present study was designed to test this and to evaluate the role of the calcium antagonist, diltiazem (400 µg/kg body weight administered intravenously over 95 min), in ischemia-reperfusion injury of the intestine. Intestinal ischemia was produced by occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) with interruption of the collateral flow for 30 min. Reperfusion was established by declamping the SMA for 1 h, and mucosal injury was assessed using a grading scale from 0 to 5. The severity of mucosal damage increased significantly after 1 h of reperfusion, from a mean grade of 2.1 in the ischemia group to 3.8 in the ischemia-reperfusion group (p < 0.01). Diltiazem was effective in the amelioration of histologic changes of reperfusion injury and reduced the degree of mucosal injury from a mean grade of 3.8 in the ischemia-reperfusion group to 2.5 in the diltiazem group (p < 0.05). This study strongly suggests that calcium ions are involved in the pathogenesis of ischemia-reperfusion injury and that diltiazem attenuates this injury by preventing the intracellular calcium influx that occurs during reperfusion.

Tracheal rupture usually occurs after blunt traumas. Isolated tracheal rupture is an extremely rare condition. The diagnosis of isolated tracheal rupture is very important for treatment and prognosis. Physical examination and imaging techniques should be used to make the diagnosis. Lateral neck and chest X-rays are very important for early diagnosis. Other techniques are thorax, neck tomography and bronchoscopy. In this paper we present a case of isolated tracheal rupture and discuss the early diagnostic techniques used.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the significance of immunohistochemical expression of Galectin-3 in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules. We studied the fine needle aspiration specimens of 38 patients who had evaluated for nodular goiter and undergone a thyroid surgery between 2004-2005. Slides had been stained immunocytochemically with Galectin-3. The cytoplasmic staining of Galectin-3 was analyzed. Three cases of five follicular carcinomas had positive staining for Galectin-3, while two had not. Two cases with follicular adenomas were negative for Galectin-3. Five cases of six papillary carcinomas had positive staining for Galectin-3, while one case (the case with a papillary microcarcinoma) had not. The single cases with medullary and anaplastic carcinomas were negative for Galectin-3. None of the cases with a benign thyroid pathology had positive staining for Galectin-3. Galectin-3 immunocytochemical staining, had a sensitivity of 61.5%, specificity of 100%, positive predictive value of 100%, and negative predictive value of 83.3% for thyroid malignancies. For the evaluation of follicular neoplasm, Galectin-3 immunocytochemical staining had a sensitivity of 60%, specificity of 100%, positive predictive value of 100%, and negative predictive value of 50%. Galectin-3 expression in thyrocytes is a strong indicator of a malignant proliferative lesion especially for papillary and to an extent in follicular thyroid neoplasms. Galectin-3 could be used as a supplementary marker for cytological diagnosis.